Solar System Log by Andrew Wilson, published 1987 by Jane's Publishing Co. Ltd.

This Soviet attempt to achieve a lunar soft-landing nearly succeeded. After a successful midcourse correction on 4 December, the spacecraft headed toward the Moon without any apparent problems.

Just prior to the planned retro-fire burn, a command was sent to inflate cushioning airbags around the ALS lander probe. Unfortunately, a plastic mounting bracket apparently pierced one of the two bags. The resulting expulsion of air put the spacecraft into a spin of 12 degrees per second. The vehicle momentarily regained attitude, long enough for a 9-second retro-engine firing, but then lost it again.

Without a full retro-fire burn to reduce approach velocity sufficient for a survivable landing, Luna 8 plummeted to the lunar surface and crashed at 21:51:30 UT on 6 December just west of the Kepler crater. Impact coordinates were 9°8' north latitude and 63°18' west longitude.

Key Dates

3 Dec 1965: Launch

6 Dec 1965: Lunar Impact

Status: Unsuccessful

Fast Facts

This was the Soviet Union's fifth attempt to make a survivable landing on the Moon.

A punctured air bag caused the spacecraft to spin and it couldn't slow down enough to make a safe landing.

The Soviet Union launched 10 of the 15 interplanety spacecraft sent into deep space in 1965.